Joel Simon

Joel Simon "worked as a journalist in California and Latin America before joining CPJ [Committee to Protect Journalists] as Americas program coordinator in 1997. He got his start in journalism covering the Guatemalan civil war. From 1989 to 1994, Simon covered Mexico for a variety of U.S. publications including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. Simon's book on Mexico's environmental crisis, Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge, was published by Sierra Club Books in 1997. Simon was promoted to deputy director in 2000 and in that capacity participated in CPJ missions to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Yugoslavia, Tajikistan, Mexico, Colombia, and the Gambia. He has written widely on press issues, including press freedom and international law, for Columbia Journalism Review, Slate, Newsday, and others. Simon became executive director of CPJ in July 2006."